Welche Sprache spricht dein Herz
by Marantis
Summary: After a terrible storm that sunk the ship he was traveling on Seto finds himself on the shore of one to him unkown island a mysterious boy beside him. As he learns later Joey is a nymph and saved him from drowning. They both share a similiar fate both their younger siblings have been kidnapped by harpies. So they decide to search for them togehter.
1. Prolog

Disclaimer: I don't own the mentioned Yu-Gi-Oh characters but I guess I do own the captain even though he is so cliché that I don't want him

Remember this is only the beginning

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Prologue

It was a sunny day with only few clouds traveling the light blue space over the ocean.

Looking down from his spot by the railing of the grand three masters the brown hair of the man was tousled by the strong wind that blew over the see that day. He admired the sparkling depths of the water that looked so much like his own eyes, at least considering color.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a boy looking like he was around the age of twelve.

"Seto, isn't it a beautiful day?" The man, he had to be around twenty years old chuckled and ruffled the raven hair of his younger sibling.

"Yes, it is indeed. But keep in mind that the weather on the see can change within a few minutes, Mokuba." He had been traveling the see for one year and a half now and it wouldn't have been the first sunny day that changed to a ship wrecking storm.

However the fear of suddenly arising strong winds was far from their minds.

xOx

Seto woke up in the middle of the night. He didn't know what woken him though .

Turning his head in the direction where he knew his brothers hammock was, he was relieved to see that Mokuba was sleeping soundly. That was when he realized what woke him up in the first place. It had been the loud sound of strong waves crashing into the side of the ship.

When a particularly strong wave hit Mokuba jolted awake. "What was that Seto?" the young boy asked worry and maybe a bit of fear evident in his voice.

"Probably a storm. Come on Mokuba. Let's see what is going on on deck." Seto tried to reassure his brother and got in an upright position. Well as upright as you can get on a shaking ship.

Taking his brothers hand in his he made his way to the staircase that connected the room with the hammocks of the crew to the upper deck, noticing that all hammocks were abandoned.

Finally getting out they were able to hear the wind and see the crew scrambling around trying to keep the ship from sinking. The shouts of the captain were faint over the roaring of the wind combined with the occasional joining thunder.

Still keeping a firm hold on Mokubas hand the brunet made his way over to the captain.

"How bad is it?" Seto tried to ask over the roaring storm he had to scream in order to be heard.

"Really bad. I don't want to frighten you but I don't think the old lady here will make it." Shouted the old sailor with an eye patch covering his left eye.

True to his word another wave hit the ship at the same time as lightning struck one of the masts. It cracked in the middle and began his descent on the deck shattering planks and railing and a few bones in its wake.

Mokuba screamed startled at the sudden downfall of the mast. Seto grabbed the young one by the shoulders trying to shield him from wood fragments that were thrown everywhere. By doing so a particularly large splinter imbedded itself in the back of his leg.

Swearing under his breath the brunet tried to get his brother away from the place where the mast was now lying on the deck. The younger one still screamed terrified.

Ignoring the pain that the wound in his leg caused, Seto was unaware that around him more fragments broke free because of the force of the waves. That was the reason he didn't react fast enough to the raven haired boys warning.

A big piece of wood hit the back of his head. Seto felt himself falling and letting go of his brother. He lost consciousness for a few seconds and when he woke up again he saw Mokuba being dragged away by a winged creature.

Raising his shaking hand in the direction of his vanishing brother Seto felt cold water surrounding him and pulling him under.

The last thing he could sense before fading away from consciousness completely were warm gentle arms wrapping around him.

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I hope you enjoyed reading and you think this is worth a review


	2. The Nymph

Here I am again with the first actual chapter for this story

Disclaimer: Sadly I still don't own the caracters mentioned. I'll tell you if an OC appears

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Chapter 1: The Nymph

Seto awoke coughing up water. The first thing he saw after his vision cleared again, was a blond boy kneeling near him his face near Setos own.

The brunet's eyes hardened into a glare that was fixed on the strangely beautiful eyes of the unfamiliar blond. "What the hell were you doing?" Seto normally wasn't one to curse but the near proximity of the strangers face and the conclusion what it has done so close, kind of threw his manners out the window.

Though startled by the sudden outburst of the man that previously had been lying unconscious on the sand of the beach, the blond wasn't one to back down easily. "Savin' your life you ungrateful bastard!"

"By pressing your lips to mine?" It had to be the lack of oxygen in his lungs or the shock from almost drowning that made Setos brain stop functioning.

"Ya weren't any help in findin' a way to get the water out of yer lungs any other way!" The blond was getting frustrated. You think you're doing something nice and saving some one's life and all you get as thanks is the bastard screaming at you.

Seto just now realizing that he was being an idiot and the boy with honey eyes only had tried to help. So his right senses finally hitting him, he did the only right thing to do.

"Sorry. I was overreacting. I must have hit my head harder than I thought when the ship su- DAMN!" Seto now remembering why he needed help in the first place and realizing that his brother probably was in great danger tried to get up.

Only to be stopped by pain shooting trough his right leg and the hand on his shoulder that tried to keep him from injuring himself further. "Ya shouldn't try to get up yet. I hadn't had the time yet to get yer leg cleaned up and everythin'."

He frowned because the boy in front of him didn't get the importance of it all. Seto had to admit that he was in no condition to be up and running around. But before he could explain to the mysterious boy why he needed to get up as soon as possible the blond beat him to opening his mouth.

"The whole crew is dead anyway so you shouldn't worry yerself over it too much."

"You just don't get it. The crew doesn't matter. It's my little brother I'm worried about." Still not getting Setos point and a little befuddled that the brunet didn't get, that apart from him no one survived the sinking of the ship, the boy tried to explain exactly that to the extremely worried Seto.

"If he was on the ship with ya he probably drowned. Sorry to have to tell ya that."

Seto got a little agitated at that. The moment he tried to raise his voice to clear things up a sudden dizziness knocked him from his almost sitting position on his back. "See I told ya, ya shouldn't be movin'."

Seto suddenly not as loud anymore, since with the dizziness came a slight nausea, only could muster a mumble. "He didn't drown. I saw him being carried away by a winged creature before I passed out." Now realization finally hitting him the blond's eyes widened. "Oh, I see." He then continued in a much quieter voice. "That means my sister wasn't the only one who got kidnapped by the harpies."

Even though the blond had spoken very softly Seto had been able to hear him and what he heard only increased his worry for his brother. "Harpies?" he croaked out, effectively bringing the blond out of his thoughts. "Yeah, they're plannin' somethin' I just can't put my finger on what. All I know is that they have kidnapped my little sister."

"For what would they need my little brother for?" Seto had to control himself so he wouldn't jump up and do something that would worsen his injuries.

"As I said I don't know. I first thought they wanted Serenity because she's a nymph but now…" he trailed off a hand positioned near his mouth as though he wanted to chew on his fingernails.

Seto himself was in deep thought. Then he realized something. "A nymph?"

The blonds face changed to an expression of shock. He hadn't meant to let this bit of information slip. "W-well you k-know…"

Being a nymph isn't something you should blurt out like that, because most humans are said to take advantage of them. Seto however didn't seem to get the reason of the nymph's distress. "I had been wondering how you were able to save me. My ship was quite far from the next shore." He acknowledged in a calm voice.

That however only unnerved the blond more. "You're tellin' me you knew?" If the panic in his voice couldn't be heard before it was evident now.

Carefully righting himself in a sitting position once again, the brunet stated in a calm voice. "I knew you had to be some supernatural creature. I just wasn't aware which one exactly."

Taking in the frightened expression of the brown eyed boy who looked like a frightened puppy at that moment, the brunet tried to calm him. "I'm not planning on hurting you." He tried to think of a way to calm the nymph that set next to him in the sand and looked as though he was starting to hyperventilate.

Going with the first idea that came to his mind he spoke. "I realized that I haven't thanked you properly for saving my life. So thank you, …" He trailed of just now remembering that they didn't even know each other's name.

Slightly calming at the change of topic the blond opened his mouth to enlighten the brunet. "My name's Joey." It was only a whisper but Seto was able to hear it.

He nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Joey. I'm Seto. It's a pleasure to meet you." Seto raised a hand for Joey to shake and leaned in the nymph's direction. Doing so however aggravated the wound in his leg. The brunet winced at the remembrance of his wound. This finally got Joey back to his straight forward self. "Ah, sorry I totally forgot about yer leg."

He stood up to hold out his hand for Seto to take so he could pull him up. "Didn't you say just minutes ago that I shouldn't get up?" The brunet raised one eyebrow in question but took the offered hand nonetheless.

The blond looked sympathetically at Seto noticing how much pain the simple task of standing up brought to him. "Yeah, but just minutes ago ya didn't know I was a nymph and I only had planned on cleaning your wound and bandagin' it."

As they started walking towards the water Seto asked "And what exactly are you planning now?" The brunet liked to know what was going to happen next and couldn't stand not being let in on things, especially if they were concerning his health.

"I'm plannin' on finxin' yer leg with magic." The blond huffed. He had to carry almost the whole weight of Seto, because the brunet really was in no shape to walk, so he leaned onto Joey.

Seto nodded in understanding. The magic of the nymphs was one of the reasons they were sometimes captured. The magical strength of them varied and the kind of magic they could use depended on their element and other aspects.

When they reached the water Joey carefully lowered Seto onto the ground so his legs were short of touching it.

The blond kneeled down beside him and moved the brunet's leg so he could inspect the wound on his it. There was a rather large splinter of wood embedded just over rim of his knee high leather boot. It went right through the thin fabric of Seto's pants.

"Okay, I have to pull the splinter out first before I can do anythin'. That's gonna hurt so best ya clench yer teeth." Seto already doing so only nodded in silent understanding.

Joey heartily grabbed the splinter and pulled on it with all his might. He didn't want to aggravate the wound any more by slowly pulling it out.

As soon as the wood was removed blood began seeping out of the injury. Seto's only reaction was a hiss that escaped through his gritted teeth. He was however missing the worried look on Joey's face.

The blond knew that it wasn't over quite yet. Joey made sure that the brunet still had his teeth tightly clenched, and filled some seawater in his hollow hand. "I have to pour ocean water over it so that I can use my magic. It's going to burn but won't last too long."

The brunet groaned because of the pain that the salt would cause. Taking this as an 'I'm ready' the blond slowly purred the water over the injured flesh softly humming a melody that his mother taught him in his childhood.

It didn't hurt as much as expected and the pain dimmed as soon as the nymph started humming until it vanished completely. While the blond was humming he had closed his eyes without noticing so he wasn't aware of Seto watching him.

The brunet was entranced by his calm expression. He seemed to be completely at ease, not a trace revealing that he almost had a panic attack only minutes ago.

When the wound had closed completely Joey opened his eyes again, staring straight into Seto's face. Coughing, to cover up his embarrassment at being caught staring, he tried to come up with anything to say. "Thank you for healing my leg, Joey."

Awkwardly scratching the back of his head Joey replied. "No problem ya needed help, so I simply had to help." Smiling at how naturally the blond had helped a stranger, Seto remembered that there were still things that had to be cleared up. "Why did you fish me out the ocean anyway?"

"I was on my way to Atlantis when I saw ya floating along the waves and as I said before I just had to help ya." Seto had heard from Atlantis on his journey around the world. It was said to be a large beautiful city that no human has ever seen. Only supernatural creatures were allowed past it's gates.

"What do you want in Atlantis?" Seto couldn't help being so curious. Joey might know something that was able to help the brunet to find his brother.

"I wanted to visit an old acquaintance of mine. She's a harpy so I thought she might be able to help me." That made sense. Seto himself had never seen a harpy except the one that dragged his brother away.

He had to risk asking. "Would you mind me joining you?" Joey a little surprised by the question but definitely not unpleased, thought it would be a good idea not to travel alone and he had to admit that he enjoyed Seto's company.

"Yeah that's a good idea. I wouldn't like to have to leave ya on yer own anyway and we have the same goal. It's only logical that we'd travel together."

Seto nodded and stood up. Testing if he could walk on his own again he had to admit that the blond had done a good job with fixing his leg. While Seto was occupied with examining his leg he didn't notice the gentle smile that crept on Joey's lips.

Having completed his examination the brunet held up a hand for the blond to take. "Let's get going. If you want me to join you we have to find a boat or ship." The blond nodded. "Right."

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I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I'm planning to update on sundays that however is no promise.

Reviews are much appreciated. I hope to see you around for the next chapter.


	3. Riddles and the hippocamp

I guess monday is close enough

Disclaimer: I don't them that's final not even Mizu at least not his design

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Chapter 2: Riddles and the hippocamp

They had been walking for a while now, just following the coast line. It had been rising steadily as they walked. There wasn't much conversation going on, to be precise none at all.

Joey, who wasn't used to such silence, as he had grown up around nymphs who were naturally talkative, was getting slightly fidgety. Trying to involve Seto into a conversation he spoke up. "So, Seto we're going to travel together for a while, so um why don't we tell each other somethin' about our lives or somethin'."

It didn't really help solve the problem when Seto only gave a raised eyebrow. The nymph awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I guess I'll be startin' then. Um I grew up on a small island with my sister and mother and a few other befriended nymphs. When I and Serenity were younger we used to build sandcastles and play in the ocean a lot."

Even though Seto hadn't looked at the blond once he was intently listening Joey's story. However the brunet seeming so uninterested in the topic only unnerved the nymph further. Joey already contemplated giving up at making conversation when his companion finally spoke up.

"One question Joey," he paused briefly to glance to his right were the blond was walking beside him when aforementioned gave a nod he continued, " I heard that there are more than one kind of aquatic nymphs. Am I informed correctly on this or is my knowledge faulty?" Happy that Seto finally showed interest in the topic the blond started explaining.

"Yeah, there are quite lot kinds of us. It starts with dividin' us from the earth and nature nymphs. What's left over are called the aquatic nymphs minus those who are responsible for the rain. I'm not sure why that is actually. But back to topic, the aquatic nymphs can be divided again, first in freshwater nymphs and second in saltwater nymphs. I'm a saltwater nymph an oceanid. There is another kind of saltwater nymphs those are called nereids."

Seto thought over what he had heard just now and came to the conclusion that he really was interested in what the blond had to tell. The brunet had always been interested in mythological creatures so it was just his luck that he had met one.

The human however was startled out of his thoughts by Joey who by no means intended the conversation to stop just like that. "I told ya about myself so how about ya now tell me somethin' about yerself?" At that Seto started to close up, he definitely wouldn't tell a total stranger about his past. That was final.

"Why do you think I would share anything personal with you?" his tone had been icy at best and in the worst case you could compare it to the winters on the island called Karasu no teikoku.

The nymph was taken aback by this cold behavior not quite getting why he was told off like that. Only seconds ago it had seemed that nothing was wrong. However Joey wasn't going to let himself be pushed around.

"I told ya about myself so ya have to tell me somethin' about yerself!" A smirk grazed Seto's lips. "I never asked you to share anything. You did so by your own free will. On top of that I didn't promise to tell you anything."

The smug look on the brunets face only irked the nymph further. But seeing that Seto indeed didn't promise anything he had to accept Seto's choice not to tell him. That however didn't mean he would give up easily. So he started a new attempt.

"Okay, I got that yer past is a touchy subject but what about interests or hobbies. I, for example like to solve riddles." The brunet only raised an unbelieving eyebrow. "Riddles? Really? I don't think your smart enough for that."

Fuming on the inside Joey tried to control himself. "If ya don't believe me test me."

"You mean I should give you a riddle and see if you can solve it?"

"That's exactly what I meant." Seto shrugged. It couldn't hurt to show his companion that he was smarter through thinking of a riddle that the blond couldn't solve.

They kept on walking while Seto tried to think about which riddle he should ask. When the human had been silent for several minutes Joey got impatient. When he wanted to open his mouth and ask if the brunet couldn't think of anything though, the brunet had already spoken up.

"_I'm always walking, but I am lying in bed at all hours,_

_Far apart are head and mouth,_

_The only time of the year you see me stop,_

_Is when winters cold wants me to."_

Joey gave Seto an unbelieving look. He couldn't fathom why of all riddles there were he had to ask that one. "Yer seriously askin' a water nymph somethin' like that? Even the youngest of aquatic nymphs could have told ya the answer to that one. The solution is river."

Seto was surprised that it hadn't taken the boy as long as he thought it would. The brunet himself had needed a lot longer to solve it when he first had heard it. He had only been nine though.

"Well, I solved your riddle Seto now ya have to solve one of mine." Considering that they didn't have anything other to do to amuse them it actually was a good way of killing time. "Alright, go on." The blond nodded and began thinking. "Okay,

_What has roots that nobody sees,_

_Reaches higher than trees,_

_never grows and sprouts not_

_but extends into the light."_

Seto smiled he had heard that riddle before but had to admit if he hadn't known the answer it would have been a challenge. "Simple, it's a mountain."

Joey nodded, but before they could continue asking each other riddles they heard a pathetic neighing. Looking around as to spot from where the sound came from, however they could not make out the source.

It could be heard again and this time they were able to tell that it had come from the cliffs. Joey immediately went over to the edge of it to peer down.

What he saw however let his jaw drop. Down there on the slightly rounded shore lay a horse, something that looked like one at least. It was crystal clear though that it wasn't an ordinary one, if the horn atop its forehead wasn't a dead giveaway than definitely the mane and tail were.

They looked like they were made out of ocean water, foam adorning the tips. The eyes as well as the aforementioned were colored a beautiful green that in any other situation would have looked eerily. Apart from that, its fur was a brilliant white, where it wasn't covered by finely crafted armor. However the beautiful sight was disturbed by the blood that poured out of a wound on his right hind leg.

Not even noticing that Seto had stepped beside him Joey searched for a way to get down to the suffering creature. When he found a small path that stood out of the cliff walls he run over to it and made his way down.

The brunet realized that the nymph had abandoned him and tore his gaze off of the hauntingly beautiful creature below and followed the blond.

Joey finally reached the sand but didn't stop until he was kneeling beside the wounded, horse like animal. Luckily it was either already too exhausted or didn't mind the nymph touching it, because it didn't fight him when he adjusted the leg so he could inspect the injury.

He jumped a little when Seto, who by now was standing next to him, spoke up. "Should I get a hand full of sea water or is the mane of it sufficient?"

The blond angrily twisted his head in Seto's direction. "That was uncalled for. Ya bastard or did ya see me makin' fun of ya when it had been ya with a wounded leg."

The brunet didn't quite get what had made Joey that mad and just walked over to the water and filled a bit of it into a small vial, which was one of the few possessions he had been able to save.

He walked back to the blond who was still kneeling in front of the horse but had begun tapping on the wound with a piece of cloth which undoubtedly once had been a part of his shirt.

Handing over the little container Seto asked a question that had been on his mind since he first saw the mane that was made out of water. "What exactly is this horse anyway?"

Joey didn't look up he just began to hum the same melody that he had used to heal Seto's leg. When he was finished he answered the brunet's question.

"It's a hippocamp. They're said to pull Poseidon's carriage. This one however is a wild one. He told me, he had gotten stuck in a fishin' net, that he couldn't get loose from again but while tryin' he scrapped his leg on a large rock. Luckily the rock also cut the net open so that he could escape. He dragged himself to the nearest shore so that the scent of his blood wouldn't attract any monsters."

Just as the blond finished the hippocamp tried to stand up. He was still a little bit wobbly on his legs but was standing upright again. That was when Seto realized something.

"Wait. He? And how the hell do you know what happened to him?" Joey only blinked at him mimicking the horse and standing to his feet as well.

"He told me of course." The brunet was left speechless at that.

He was brought out of his stupor by a neigh. The blond looked over to the hippocamp and seemed to somehow communicate with it even though Seto wasn't sure how, the nymph didn't even open his mouth.

"What did he say?"

"He thanked me for healing his leg and asked how he could repay me."

"And how did you answer him?" Joey opened his mouth as to tell Seto just how he had when he was nudged by the hippocamp. He turned around to look in the sea green eyes of the horse like creature.

They almost seemed to hold a glimmer of impatience in them. Realizing that he had forgot something he went on correcting his mistake. "I forgot to introduce him to you he said his name is Mizu."

Seto had watched the whole scene before him with slight amusement.

"Well, I asked him if he would be willing to carry you across the ocean, that would have solved our problem of having to find a boat, but he said that he only would do it if you first apologized for the water comment."

The brunet raised an eyebrow at that. Who would have thought that Mizu had understood him and took offence at what he had said.

"Alright, Mizu, I'm sorry that I was rude. My remark had been absolutely uncalled for and I apologize if I have hurt you with that." Mizu tilted his head a little to the side and narrowed his eyes slightly as if he was weighing how much truth was in Seto's words.

After a few seconds he finally nodded his head. Joey, who had been a little bit stunned at the sincerity of the brunet's apology, spoke up. "Since you have solved that should we get going now?"

The horse again gave a nod while Seto added something. "Will you be alright with swimming?" he blond waved his hand in a dismissing way and laughed. "Of course. Ya don't have to worry about me not being able to keep up with ya guys."

Believing the nymph the human stepped beside the hippocamp and asked for allowance once more. "May I?"

Mizu gave a neigh that sounded like an approval and Seto mounted the beautiful creature. Joey was already standing waist deep in the water. "Let's get goin' then!"

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Yay another chapter finished. The whole thing with the riddles was completely random and I'm apologizing that they don't rhyme I only have german ones flying around my room so I had to translate them myself. On top of that I'm probalby going to add the one or another riddle so if you know any good you can tell me in your review I would highly appreciate it.

On another note if you want to know what Mizu looks like you can just google 'Fireking Avatar Kirin' and you'll find pictures of the yu-gi-oh card I based him off.

I hope you liked this chapter and that I will see you around for the next one.


	4. Atlantis

Hey It's been some time but I'm back. I'm trying to update more regularly. No promises however.

Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters. That's something that isn't going to change anytime soon.

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Chapter 3: Atlantis

The sun had steadily risen over the time of their journey over the sparkling water. By now it was so high in the sky that it wouldn't be much longer until it started its descent again.

Seto had ridden on horseback before but that couldn't be compared to riding on Mizu. The hippocamp had been slowly trotting the whole time and didn't seem the least bit exhausted, considering that it had been hours.

The way he, for the lack of a better word, 'walked' was entrancing. He didn't just per se 'walk' over the waves, with each step his hooves sunk into the water up to his ankle. However the second his hooves touched it, it seemed to wind up around his legs, when he lifted them again the liquid sloshed back into the ocean.

There was another thing that was keeping Seto's gaze captured. It was Joey, where his body was covered by the ocean it almost looked like it dissolved into the liquid. However that applied only for the edges of it, the rest remained solid.

The nymph had mostly been talking to the hippocamp. At least that was what the brunet assumed.

The silence, that lasted while they traveled the vast space of water, was broken by Joey's laughing. Seto swept his gaze from the horizon to the blond, only raising an eyebrow as reaction.

As he stopped laughing he turned his head around to look in the humans face a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Noticing the unspoken question in Seto's eyes he decided it would be best to answer it without further ado.

"Mizu asked how it comes that a human and a nymph are traveling together. So I told him a little about myself and the few things I knew about ya. When I came to the riddle part he told me one that's popular among hippocamps. It's really difficult so I kinda wondered if ya could solve it."

Never one to not accept a challenge Seto nodded. "I'm listening."

Giving a smile the blond began.

"_Thirty-two white horses on a red hill_

_First they grind,_

_Then they stomp,_

_And then again they stand still."_

Mizu gave neigh that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Seto had to admit that it really was a difficult riddle but nothing he couldn't solve.

The horses obviously weren't real ones but what were they? Grind, stomp, standing still… Was the key to the riddle the red hill? What did it mean? Red and white. Wait! The number, it was the key. Thirty-two white somethings on a red thing. On… on… In! He got it!

"The solution is teeth." Joey almost looked disappointed that Seto was able to solve it. And that he hadn't needed nearly half the time he had spent pondering over the riddle before he had come up with the right solution.

Even Mizu's snickering, that had gone on over the entire time the brunet had thought about the right solution, came to an abrupt halt.

"I suppose I was right then." Seto had a smug smile adorning his lips. As far as anyone could see, Joey's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Yeah ya hit bulls eye on the first try."

The brunet was just about to ask how long it had taken the blond to figure out the right answer, when Mizu suddenly snapped his head upwards. His gaze as well as Joey's followed the motion and what they saw had Seto clenching his jaw so he didn't drop it and Joey smiling in glee.

Though blurred, the shape of a giant city was clear visible against the light blue color of the sky. "We're almost there." The blond exclaimed with joy. He was right it couldn't be more than half an hour until they would reach those enormous gates that were the only visible entrance to the city.

Though nobody mentioned it, Seto was pretty sure it had to be Atlantis. There weren't that many cities that resided in the middle of an ocean.

With the sight of their destination right in front of them their pace picked up a little. That was when Seto remembered something he had heard from sailors before. "Joey, I don't want to worry you but isn't it the case that humans are not allowed in Atlantis."

The blond only blinked up at him. He didn't seem like he had thought of that before, or was concerned about it in the least. "Ah, I'm pretty sure the guards won't notice that yer a human."

Seto couldn't believe it. Did the nymph really think that the guards of Atlantis were incompetent fools?

Joey, who had noticed the unbelieving look on the brunets face tried to assure him. "Yeah, it's not like they're runnin' scans or anythin'. They'll only take a look at ya and that's it. Ya are handsome enough to pass as a nymph or nix or somethin'."

Seto wanted to protest but his attempt was shot down by the nymphs continued rambling. "And if they ask why ya are ridin' on a hippocamp, we're just gonna say that yer a naiad and that the salt water's not good for ya."

They were nearing the grand gates. Seto was now able to spot the guards and even from the still rather large distance he could tell that they didn't look like humans. They were some kind of cross between human and fish. He really wasn't sure what kind of fish. To complete the look of intelligent fish they were wearing armor. And same as with Mizu's it looked quite fancy.

The brunet started to tense up when they crossed the gates but true to Joey's word they only gave a bored looking glance and then continued to stare at the ocean.

Finally relaxing Seto took in the sight before him fully. The gates they just crossed, along with the attached wall only made up the outer ring. Between the first houses and the wall was water. He assumed that it continued around the whole city. Beside the gates had been platforms where the guards had stood on.

Ripping his eyes from the sight before him he turned to look what Joey's reaction was. The blond had the same big eyes that even Mizu sported. They were fixed to the white buildings on the side of what seemed to be the main road of the city. It let straight through it. On the end of it was a building that strongly resembled a palace that a human king would build, even though Seto had never seen one of such big size on his journey before.

But even more intriguing were the people that wandered the streets. A lot of them looked at least to some aspects like the guards at the gates but there were human looking creatures too, most likely nymphs of all kinds. There were even some with a fin instead of legs.

Joey ripped himself from all the, mostly aquatic, magical creatures. He hadn't seen so much different ones in one place before.

He focused on where he swam just in time, if he had taken one minute longer he would have crashed on the steps that rose out of the water. He lifted himself on the first step and turned around only to see that Mizu had seen the stairs as well and was carefully climbing them.

After they came to a halt at the top of the stairs Seto dismounted the hippocamp. Turning around towards the nymph he asked. "So, where to next?"

Thinking for the first time about the question what they were supposed to do the blonde had to admit that he wasn't too sure about the answer. "Uhm… I guess she told me once were she lived so…"

Becoming annoyed because Joey didn't seem to know what they should do, Seto frowned. "You're telling me you never were here before and that you don't have the slightest clue where she lives?"

"It couldn't be that hard. I'm goin' to find it even if I haven't been here before." With that Joey began walking off in some, not only for the brunet but for himself as well, random direction.

xOx

They were lost. It had been clear an hour ago that the nymph lost his way and only kept walking to save his pride. It had been enough so Seto snapped. "Just admit that you're lost!"

"I'm not. I know exactly where I'm goin'." Even though Joey knew that his companion was right, he wasn't going to admit that.

"Oh, really. Then how comes that this is not the second but already the fifth time we walked by that fountain." The fountain in question was a beautifully crafted one that showed a man holding a trident riding a carriage that was being pulled by several hippocamps. Seto was pretty sure that it was supposed to be Poseidon.

Both the brunet and the nymph had stopped walking by now. "Well maybe there're just a lot of fountains that look like this one." Seto really shouldn't complain at least Joey was doing something to improve the current situation.

"Yes, of course that must be the case. They purposefully broke of the left leg on the foremost hippocamp on every fountain we have come across so far!"

"Maybe they did. You've never been here before how would ya know they didn't!" The blond had had enough of Seto's arrogant way of talking. He certainly wasn't going to back down.

"Neither have you!"

Mizu, who until now only had been standing on the sideline watching silently as Seto and Joey held their little dispute, decided that it was time for him to break these two, in his eyes idiots, apart. However before Mizu was able to intervene someone else did.

"Joey! What in Poseidon's name are you doing here?" Startled by the sudden interruption of their dispute both males turned towards the female voice, in front of them stood a blond woman.

Her hair reached down to the middle of her back and was slightly curled. Instead of hands and feet she had claws and expanding from her arms were feathery wings.

"Mai!" Joey obviously recognized the other blond. Seto assumed that she must be the acquaintance that was the reason for their presence in Atlantis.

The nymph ran up to the harpy and gave her a hug, which she returned. "Now tell me what you want here in Atlantis Joey."

Releasing the other blond from his bear hug Joey spoke up. "We were lookin' for ya."

Seto and Mizu who by now had moved closer to the blonds were able to see Mai's raised eyebrow. "We?"

However before the nymph could answer here she cut him off. "I have the feeling that this is going to be a long story, so how we continue this somewhere that isn't in the middle of the street."

All three travel companions gave a nod.

"Good. Now follow me. Introductions can wait until we're at my place. It isn't too far away."

"Ha! So I wasn't walkin' in the wrong direction after all." Joey cried triumphantly.

"Maybe not, but you were walking in circles nonetheless." Seto had a smug smile on his face and with this he began walking after Mai.

Following the harpy as well Joey mumbled. "He always has to have the last word, hasn't he."

Mizu gave an amused snort and started trotting after them as well.

* * *

I hope you had fun reading. I tried my best with the bickering of Seto and Joey, if it isn't any good some advice on how to make it better is appreciated.

Until the next time.


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